“… The Rice campaign is expected to announce the endorsement of Assemblywoman Michelle Schimel, who, along with Schneiderman, led the charge to pass a firearm microstamping bill in Albany earlier this year … When asked how she would explain what appears to be a slight at Schneiderman, Schimel said, “I don’t have to explain it. My relationship with her is deeper and longer and that’s just how I base my judgment. And she is a prosecutor too, and assertive, and that’s how I’m pitching it…I certainly don’t want to denigrate Eric. That’s not the goal of this.” …”

“… It’s difficult to name a clear frontrunner, political analysts say. With five candidates and an expected low voter turnout, the margin of victory will likely be small in a state with about 5.8 million registered Democrats and 2.7 million Republicans … “This is a very difficult race to predict,” said Steven Greenberg, spokesman for the Siena College Polling Institute. “You could win this race with 200,000 to 250,000 votes out of about 5.5 million Democrats.” …”

Gunnies turning out to vote is key in this race. Victory is anyone but Eric Schneiderman winning.

“… Elected to the state Senate in 1998, Schneiderman, 55, has championed what he deems a progressive Democratic agenda, including alternative-to-incarceration programs and tougher gun laws …”

I knew this was coming. It was only a matter of time. With primary turnout so low, in a 5-way free for all with 2 of the 5 candidates (Schneiderman & Dick Brodsky) forced to give up their legislative seats to make this run, there was just no way they were going to behave. Schneiderman has to win this or his career is over. He’s got nothing to lose by embellishing his background.

“New York State needs a tough, honest and smart attorney general to attack the culture of corruption in Albany, protect consumers and the environment, and promote civil rights … For the Democratic nomination, we support State Senator Eric Schneiderman …”

Yeah, promote civil rights except for those specifically enumerated civil rights which the Times editors do not approve of.

“… The Times endorsement is seen as a major plum for the Democratic Party, where many stalwart Democrats in New York City rely on the paper as their main source of news …”

I think not. This might have been true many years ago, but is not now. Their circulation has been dropping for years and is down more than 8% from last year alone. People, regardless of their ideology, just do not rely on old media outlets like the Times anymore. This is not the game changer Schneiderman’s campaign is trying to spin it as.

… “We have to consider whether our law is unconstitutional,” said Legislator John Nonna, D-Pleasantville, the chairman of the legislation committee. “We should examine whether our gun-storage law is subject to a constitutional challenge.” …

I suspect they’re going to end up changing it. Spano was the driving force behind all the antigun initiatives in the county and with him gone I don’t think there will be much cheerleading for it.